A Stutter In My Heart (only for you)
by I'mtheAlphahearmeRoar
Summary: The one where Derek has a stutter and Stiles befriends him. They become quite close over a short amount of days and things happen. High School AU. girl!Stiles.


_Mornings sucked_.

That was always the one key motto that Sasha Stilinski found herself waking up to every morning.

She would be shocked awake at 6am by her annoying alarm clock (the one that her dad had forcibly put on her dresser many years ago with the 'this is to make sure you actually _wake up_, because don't think I don't know how much of a heavy sleeper you are' speech) that would ring continuously until she'd gain enough consciousness to put an end to its hell buzz by slamming her hand down on the **SLEEP MODE **button (either that or just throwing it halfway across the room. Whatever worked best, really).

This morning happened to be one of the days that Sasha's alarm clock was shown the hard approach some people (aka half asleep girls who had a case of the 'not-very-happy-to-be-jolted awake-by-a-racket-of-ding-ding-noises') took in their attempt to stop its routine awakening. As soon as the first little sound had made its way out of the thing, Sasha had picked it up – not even bothering to open her eyes – before chucking it.

**BANG!**

"Good. Hope you're broken this time," she muttered, yawning sleepily as she rolled over on her stomach, pressing her face into the soft, fluffy pillow beneath her head. Her bed was warm and comfy, a heaven that loved being worshipped by her body. Anyone or anything that even tried to get her out of it was something evil in her books.

"_SASHA GENIM STILINSKI! DON'T EVEN **THINK **I DIDN'T HEAR THAT ALARM GOING OFF!"_

"Damn it," Sasha groaned. She rolled over again, onto her back looking up at her ceiling. The white paint was slowly peeling off; some light pink spots were already showing underneath from the last coat of color her room had been painted. _What_? She had happened to be going through a color phase back then. And don't even _think _the word 'girly.'

"_I DON'T HEAR YOU MOVING UP THERE!"_

"God_damn_. Okay! I'm getting up!" She yelled, throwing her covers off. She must have forgotten to close her window last night because the cold morning air of California seemed to pick that exact moment to breeze right through her room. "Shoot, that's _cold_," she shivered, going over to her window and shutting it, followed by the curtains. She didn't want any peepers to be looking in on her _fiiiiine _ass while she got dressed. Note- skinny, white ass that may or _may not_ have a couple dotted freckles. Secrets like that are better kept safe sometimes. Okay… all the time.

Sasha's cupboards had always held so many clothes; dresses, skirts, jeans, tops – the _works_. Today, just like every other day, was the adventure of finding something to wear.

"Hmmm… no. Nope. _Definitely _not. Nope. No waaayy. Nup. Na-ah. Nada. No – _Aha_!"

A pair of black skinny jeans, white fur jacket, and a grey tank top that had the embroidered picture of a wolf on it. Yep. Sasha _loved _wolves. They were like her _spirit _animal or something.

"Okay, now I neeeeeed…. Makeup!" She walked over to her dresser and browsed through her makeup. In the end she settled for a light dusting of black eye shadow, a sweep of eyeliner and a touchup of some fairy floss flavored lip gloss. Blame that on her sweet tooth. Heh.

"Lastly… the _hair_!" She giggled, getting out her hair curler. Her hair was naturally straight but she didn't particularly like it… for reasons. She curled it every morning, making the strands smooth down into small curly flowing waves. In the end, she loved how it gave off a nice edge to her cheekbones while perfectly framing her face. Not as perfect as Lydia Martin, though. _Oh no_. She was an absolute _goddess_… and maaaaayyybe Sasha's best friend since primary school. So _suck it_. Ha. Just kidding.

"Perfect," Sasha smiled as she looked into the mirror. Everything about her looked good. Now all she needed was to…

"_YOU DONE UP THERE!?"_

Oh, yes. Make her father a fat free, healthy breakfast.

"Yeah! I'll be down in a second! Keep ya badge on, dad!" She called, laughing as she heard him muttering something like 'damn kid' under his breath.

"Okay, here I am your highness. What shall thy lord have for ye morning feast?" Sasha giggled once she found him sitting at the kitchen table, newspaper in hand. "How about cereal?" She smiled, teasingly.

Sheriff Stilinski sighed, looking up from his paper with weary eyes before shaking his head. "You're killing me here, kiddo."

"What, just because you can't eat bacon and eggs? Now, dad, you _know _that's only on Sundays." Going over to the cabinets Sasha took out a bowl, followed by getting the milk carton from the fridge and then finding the box of cheerios on the counter. "So for today you're having this." She shook out some of the contents of cheerios into the bowl, pouring the milk in after before placing the bowl down on the table in front of the Sheriff. "There ya go, dad. Dig in!"

"Get me a spoon, would ya?"

"Yes thy lord!" Sasha saluted before opening one of the drawers, getting out a spoon and giving it to him. "My apologies, your highness, thy spoon is ready," she bowed.

Sheriff Stilinski chuckled, swatting her away with his hand. "Go on kid, off to school! Thy lord shall not be needing service any longer this morning."

Sasha grinned, leaning down to peck him on the cheek. "Okay dad, see you later. Love you," she said before heading over to the door, picking up her bag. She called over her shoulder giddily "I will be back with dinner, thy lord!" before exiting the front door; the Sheriff's snorted laughter following her wake.

* * *

Driving to school was always a task that Sasha enjoyed most about Hell Day mornings. She loved her Jeep to death (the vehicle having been given to her by her dad this year for her 16th birthday along with the speech of 'I'm putting my trust in you with this vehicle, Sasha. I do _not _want to be hearing from my officers down at the station that you've been neglecting the road rules').

"You happy to see me, baby?" Sasha cooed as she started the Jeep, the rumble of the engine reverberating smoothly. "Really? Awww you flatter me, Sally."

Yes.

She named her Jeep _Sally_.

It is not a crime. _Okay_?

"Well we better be off now, Sal. Don't wanna be late for school, do we?" The engine spluttered and Sasha laughed. "Yeah, I don't care either. Let's take _allllll _the time in the world." She shifted the gears and soon they were up and going, out of the driveway and onto the road.

"How about some music, huh Sal?" Sasha smiled, turning on the radio. As soon as she did she squealed, putting the volume up loud. "I _love _this song!"

_So come on spin me around_

_No I don't wanna go home_

_Cause when you hold me like this_

_You know my heart skips, skips a beat_

_I know I should but I can't leave it alone_

_And when you hold me like this that's when my heart skips, skips a beat_

Sasha found herself singing along, bobbing her head up and down and shaking her hair around wildly. When the song ended she pouted and turned the radio off, and as she looked up she saw something at the side of the road that made her frown.

There was a boy pushing a bike alongside him, up the hill. His head was down and his shoulders sagged as he walked. He carried a backpack on his back and this just made Sasha feel sympathy for him; walking to school while _also _lugging around a bike didn't sound fun. Before she even considered what she was doing she had parked beside him, winding down her window.

"Hey, you need some help there?"

The boy's head jerked around, shoulders snapping up straight like he'd just been shocked. When he caught sight of her, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open.

Sasha raised an eyebrow. "Well, you need help or not?"

"Uh… u-uh, yeah," he nodded, coming out of his stupor. "I mean – I mean, if it's not too much tr-trouble." He bit his lip, closing his eyes and looking down, feet shuffling awkwardly.

Sasha smiled, sensing the boy's shyness. She got out of the Jeep and took the bike from his hands gently. "Okay, no worries." She saw that the bike's tires were flat, definitely not going to be ride-able. "So, um, I'll just put your bike at the back. And you can sit at the front with me, okay? That sound alright?" She asked.

The boy looked up at her a few seconds, his black hair falling in his eyes a bit, before he nodded silently and walked around to sit in the passenger seat. Sasha watched him from outside as he sat down and fastened his seatbelt, taking in the way his body seemed to hunch slightly and how his hands shook a little. He must have sensed her watching because he suddenly stiffened and turned around. His eyes met hers – and just like that he turned away again, looking down like he was embarrassed.

Sasha sighed and went to the back of the Jeep, putting the bike in before going back around to the front, sitting down in her seat and shutting the car door. She turned to the boy to see him staring out his side window, hands held together in his lap.

"You okay?" She asked softly.

The boy turned to face her. Their eyes met, before his lips tugged up at the corners in a small lopsided smile. "Yeah – yeah, I-I'm okay. Thanks – thanks for the ride."

Sasha smiled back. "No problem." She looked at his backpack on the ground by his feet. "So, you go to Beacon Hills?" She wondered.

The boy nodded. "Y-Yeah."

"Me too." She turned the engine on, reversing and getting back onto the road. The boy averted his attention back to his window. A couple more minutes later of driving and Sasha decided to ask another question. "Hey, what's you name?"

The boy turned again, their eyes meeting. "D-Derek. Your – yours?"

"Well nice to meet you Derek, I'm Sasha." She bit her lip. "Say hey, Derek, if you don't mind me asking… do you have a-"

"A s-stutter? Y-Yeah, I – I do," Derek nodded, cutting her off.

"Oh… sorry. I didn't mean to intrude into your personal life or anything," she cringed, feeling totally guilty.

Derek shook his head. "N-No, it's okay. I've had wor-worse from o-others. Th-They don't rea-really ask pol-politely like you, j-just point it out and la-laugh," he smiled. "You're n-nicer about i-it, so it's fi-fine."

"That's just – just – just… Gosh, now you've got me stuttering," she growled. "Seriously, I cannot find _any_thing to say about that. People can be such dicks."

Derek sighed. "Y-Yeah, but it does-doesn't really bo-bother me much a-anymore. You g-get used to i-it."

Sasha frowned, hitting the steering wheel angrily. "That's not fair!" Derek looked at her with wide eyes and she shook her head, feeling like an idiot about her outburst. "Sorry about that, just… you shouldn't be used it, you know? You have a stutter, yeah, so what? You're still a human being, you're still a _person_, and to be picked on like that for something you have no control of is just…"

"Not fa-fair," Derek muttered lightly. "Yeah, I k-kno-know. But I c-can't stop the-them, I j-j-just have to deal w-with it."

Sasha snorted. "Oh no. _No_. You do _not _just 'deal with it'."

Derek frowned, putting his head down and looking away. "Well, wha-what e-else am I g-going to d-d-do?" He snapped, angry for the first time since Sasha had met him. "I m-mean, w-what else _i-is_ there to d-do?" He choked.

Sasha put a hand on his arm. "Derek, look at me." Derek raised his head, looking at her with misty hazel eyes. "You're not going to have to deal with any of that anymore, I promise. I'll have your back, alright?" She said softly. "As long as you're with me, I'll do everything I can to make sure those assholes stay away… and if they don't," she smirked, squeezing his arm, "they have Sasha Stilinski to deal with."

Derek's eyes widened. "S-Stilinski? Like, t-the m-"

"Most popular senior in school, other than Lydia Martin? Yep. That's me. Ah! Look, we're here." Sasha turned the Jeep into the car park of the school. "My personal palace and," she turned to Derek with a grin, "now yours, as long as you stick by me." She winked.

Derek smiled, wiping his eyes. "Huh. T-Thanks."

Sasha gave me a light pat him on the back. "No problem, kiddo."

Derek found himself beaming. He couldn't stop, to be honest.

Sasha Stilinski, the most famous and looked upon senior in the entire school, second to Lydia Martin, was going to be sticking by his side?

_Sweet!_

For once, instead of being nervous and paranoid about getting picked on, Derek was actually looking forward to going to school.

* * *

Sasha found herself keeping Derek company during the breaks. Instead of sitting with her friends – Lydia Martin, Jackson Whittemore (also an asshole), Scott McCall, Allison Argent and Danny Mahealani – at the 'cool kid' table, she sat with Derek at one of the normal tables. "Y-You don't h-have to sit here w-with me if you d-don't w-want to," Derek had said, but Sasha had smiled, shook her head, and ended up sitting with him anyway.

"So, what classes you have after this?" She asked, twirling a string of pasta on her fork. "I have Chemisty and Economics."

Derek looked up from where he'd been staring at his lasagna. "E-English and then I h-have Ancient H-History."

Sasha nodded. "_Nice_. Wish I had those. Instead, I have to deal with Harris and Finstock for two hours_. Fun times_!" She grinned sarcastically, making Derek laugh.

"Y-You have H-Harris too, huh? He's such a-an A-hole," Derek groaned. "I m-mean, he yells a-at me for no-nothing nearly all the t-time. I think it h-has some-something to do w-with my stutter," he sighed.

Sasha wrinkled her nose. "He can get in trouble for that, you know. What he's doing is against the school's system or… something like that," she said around a mouthful of pasta, pensive look on her face. "Hey, maybe I could even dob him in for ya. I have some… _issues_ with him that I'd like to see the principle deal with himself," she smirked.

"Oh y-yeah. L-Like wh-what?"

"Like giving me a month's worth of detentions for correcting him."

"You _c-corrected _Harris?"

"Yeah. Well, what was I going to do? Have the guy teach a chemistry lesson without even knowing how to spell the word _formula_?"

Derek snorted around a sip of drink. "He d-didn't know how t-to spell for-formula?"

Sasha shrugged. "Didn't look like it. Well, _unless _I have some sort of sight impairment that makes the word formula look like its spelt F-O-R-M-U-L-A-R."

Derek laughed this time, soda spilling out from the corners of his mouth. "Oh my _god_. T-That's funny."

"Yeah, it is," Sasha chuckled. "Especially when I was the only person in the _entire class _to actually notice… well apart from Jackson, but he's sometimes a douche and I tend to count him as a jerk, not a person."

Derek nodded around a forkful of lasagna. "B-Blonde hair, blue e-eyes and m-major j-jock?"

"Yep, that's him. Never knows when to shut up. Sometimes I wonder why Lyds doesn't force a muzzle on him," Sasha said thoughtfully.

"L-Lydia and h-him are to-together?"

"Yeah. They got together like _aaagggees_ ago."

Derek snorted. "W-Why him? He – He's such a-"

"Asshole. Yeah, I know. Six plus years of being Jackson's friend has taught me that," she snorted.

"S-Six yea-years?" Derek said astonished, mouth agape.

"Uh-huh." Sasha took Derek's soda and took a swig. "_Also_ may have taught me a few added jerk tactics," she smirked.

"O-Oi!" Derek laughed, snatching it back.

Sasha giggled. "Always, and I mean _al_ways keep your drink supervised, sweetie," she winked.

If Derek blushed, who's to say anyone saw?

* * *

The last two classes Sasha had were suck-ish if anything but. Finstock must have had an extra glass of snark juice for breakfast this morning, while Harris was just a plain dickbag and had given her an afterschool detention because she had whispered to Scott after he'd asked her a question. Their conversation still kept replaying in her mind…

* * *

"Psst!" Sasha whipped around to face Scott, whose lips were pulled in a small grin. "Who was that kid you were hanging with today at lunch, huh?"

"His name's Derek," she replied, feeling Harris's eyes boring into the back of her skull already. "And no. He is _not _my boyfriend, before you ask."

Scott smirked. "You sure? It looked like you two were getting very… friendly," he chuckled.

Sasha laughed sarcastically. "Yeah, _no_ Scott. I'm just… looking out for him, I guess? He's got a stutter and-"

"He gets picked on so you're hanging out with him to stick up for him when it happens?" Scott snorted. "Good luck with that one."

Sasha frowned. "Scott, stop it. You're being-"

"An A-hole?" He shrugged. "Hey, I'm just thinking real here. Those kids that pick on him? _Yeah_, they're not going to stop just because you're hanging around him like a guard dog."

"A guard dog with _nails_, Scott," Sasha snarked. "And designer heels that can be wedged somewhere _very _uncomfortable if any of them aren't swinging in Danny's direction," she smirked.

Scott winced. "Okay. Alright. No need to get into detail, Sash."

"_MR MCCALL AND MISS STILINSKI! TALKING IN MY CLASS IS **NOT **SOMETHING I WOULD BE DOING IF I WERE YOU!"_

* * *

So yeah. Detention with Mr Harris. _Awesome_.

"Can I go now?" She moaned, pointing at the clock. "It's already five and I've been here for like two hours."

"No."

"_Uggghhh_," she growled, picking at the black nail polish on her nails. They would _totally _need a re-paint by the time this detention was done.

It was an hour and a half later when Harris finally let her leave. Sasha was pissed and a speed rage on the town in her Jeep sounded like something she was up to in that moment. Her mood changed though when she caught Derek waiting outside by her Jeep.

"Derek?" She frowned, lips pursing. "What are you doing here so late?"

Derek jumped when he heard her voice, turning around. He smiled sheepishly. "Um, my b-bike is in y-your Jeep, rem-remember? Can't g-get home."

"So you just automatically thought I'd give you a lift," she said, raising an eyebrow.

"N-no! I – I mean-"

Sasha laughed. "I'm just kidding, kid. Of course I'll give you a lift. Gosh, do I _really_ look lke a person who'd leave you out here with no way to get home?" She teased.

Derek blushed. "N-No," he murmured.

"That's right," she hummed. "Now get in. We're _out _of this joint!"

* * *

"Okay. So, here we are. Home sweet home," Sasha smiled as she pulled up the Jeep in front of Derek's house. She had to admit, it was damn nice house; especially in regards to it being all the way out in the woods. It was very stylish and it just made her want to go and explore what was inside to see if it looked as awesome as it did on the outside.

"T-Thanks. I rea-really app-appreciate it," Derek said sincerely, smiling with all teeth. Sasha also had to admit _that_ was a pretty damn nice thing too. Derek's smile, that is…

"No problem. If you ever need a ride to school or back home just call or text me or just… ask me at school or something," she giggled.

Derek nodded. "Okay… wait, c-can I have you – your n-number?" He took out his phone, looking at her expectedly.

"Yeah. Of course," Sasha agreed, telling him her mobile number and watching as he put it in his phone. "Now, can I have yours?" She asked.

"Sure," Derek grinned, telling her his.

"Awesome! Now we can text each other often… if you want?" Sasha smirked, putting her phone back into her pocket.

Derek blushed, smiling shyly. "Y-Yeah. That – that'd be cool."

"Okay great. Well, I better be getting home now. My dad is going to wanna know why I'm back so late." Derek looked guilty and she laughed. "God no. No, I won't tell him it was _you_, cause it _really _wasn't. I'll tell him it was all Harris… and that's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing _but _the truth," she winked.

"Okay. Sorry ab-about having t-to drive me b-back t-though. I know that - that's a little o-of the rea-reason why you w-were late," Derek said sheepishly.

Sasha shook her head. "No. Not at all, Derek, not _at all_." She gave him a firm pat on the back and grinned. "It was fun having the company. We should hang out after school too sometime."

This time Sasha could clearly see the pink blush spreading up from Derek's cheeks to his ears and she couldn't help but think it was adorable. She was going to comment about it just to see if he would get all flustered when the door to the Hale house opened and a girl who looked to be in her early 20's ran out. As soon as she saw Derek her face showed pure anger and she started storming towards the Jeep.

"Oh c-crap," Derek groaned.

"Who's that?" Sasha asked curiously.

"Laura, m-my big sis-sister," Derek sighed, pushing the Jeep's door open and getting out. "I b-better go before sh-she chews you-your head off. T-Thanks again f-for the ride," he chuckled.

Sasha just smirked. "Like I said before, no problem." She waved before reversing the Jeep out of the driveway and turning it around, heading the way back through the woods to the road.

It was when she'd pulled up into her home's driveway did she remember she still had Derek's bike in her backseat.

* * *

Then next morning when Sasha woke up she checked her phone to see a message from Derek

_Good morning Sasha. I kinda mabye just remembered my bike is still in your Jeep. It's silly. Believe me. I know. But I totally forgot. I really don't want to walk all the way to school from my house. I'd probably collapse from exhaustion without even making it past the mailbox. Hah. So yeah. I was wondering if you could possibly be able to come over and pick me up today?_

Sasha smiled, giggling to herself. That message was seriously adorable.

_Why hello there Derek. Of course I can pick you up! I should be there in 20 min. Just gotta get ready ;)_

The message back was written so shyly that she could practically _feel _him blushing right now.

_Oh. Um. Okay. Thanks. Have fun getting ready? Crap. No. That's not what I - I'll just be waiting out front for you. Yeah. So see you soon. And ignore what I said. It wasn't. It was. Just forget I said it. Please._

Oh god. She was internally having a squeal moment.

Derek was such a cutie-pie!

* * *

Sasha got to Derek's house at exactly 7am on the dot. Time keeping was not her specialty but this morning she was actually really early. Which was weird. And just not natural. She blames Derek's cuteness on this.

Derek's waiting out front for her, just like he said he would be. And he's got a leather jacket on. It… it looks _very _hot on him. She feels like she could melt.

"Hey. T-Thanks for com-coming by," he smiled, getting into the passenger seat.

"No probs." Sasha reversed the Jeep and was about to start driving out of the property when Laura came out of the house and walked towards the vehicle.

"So you're my baby brother's new crush, huh?" She said, grinning. "I'm Laura Hale. Who are we, the apple to Der-bear's eye?"

"Laura g-go away!" Derek growled through his stammers, glaring at his sister with narrowed hazel eyes.

"I'm Sasha, nice to meet you." Sasha smiled and held her hand out to Laura, who shook it with a smile of her own. "So, uh, Derek has a crush on me then?" She smirked, turning to Derek. "Why didn't you tell me, sweetie?"

Derek blushed and looked away. "I – I d-don't have a c-c-crush on you," he murmured.

"Oh, he's just embarrassed. You can tell he's lying if he stammers over a word three times. He's totally got a thing for you. He seriously _digs _you," Laura chuckled gleefully.

"S-Shut u-up Laura!"

Laura laughed. "Thanks for giving my bro a ride. His bike is wrecked again, I'm presuming?"

Sasha nodded. "Yeah. It's in the back if you want to get it out."

"Thanks," Laura said, before going around to the back and pulling it out. She examined it and made a tch tch sound under her breath before turning to Derek with a sly grin. "Manage to crash it into a tree this time, Der?"

Derek grumbled something under his breath that Sasha couldn't hear.

"Huh? What was that little bro? Didn't quite catch ya," Laura teased.

Derek turned around and shot Laura a dry look. "No act-actually. The t-tires b-blew while I – I was ri-riding up the hill," he said darkly.

Laura sighed. "Oh, okay. Sorry about that Derek. I'll get dad to take a look at it." She nodded at Sasha, smiled at Derek. "It was nice meeting you Sasha. Bye Der, have a good day at school," she said, before walking back towards the house with the bike in hand.

Sasha waved, waited until Laura was inside the house, and then turned to Derek who was looking at her with a blush still on his cheeks. "Soooo…."

"Don't. J-Just drive," Derek muttered shyly, turning away to look out of his window.

Sasha found herself grinning the whole way to school.

* * *

When Sasha got to school Scott was waiting out the front for her, leaning against the bike racks next to his bike; he gave her a wave as she parked her Jeep into an available spot, running over to her with a big puppy grin on his face.

"Sash! How ya goin'?" He asked as she got out, arching an eyebrow when he noticed Derek jumping out behind her. "Whoa! Hey now, since when are you giving lifts?" He teased, nudging her with his elbow. "You could have told me and given me a ride."

"Derek's an exception," she laughed, poking her tongue out at her friend when he pouted. "Plus Scott, you have a bike that you can _ride _to school."

"Yeah, but it's not as good as getting a chafer ride from your best friend in her awesome jeep," he said unhappily. He turned to Derek. "What about you, kid? How'd you get Sash to start driving you around town, huh? It's not an easy thing to do, man."

Derek bit his lip, looking over to Sasha with wide eyes. Sasha understood immediately. "Hey, Scott you mind giving me and Derek a moment?" She asked.

Scott frowned. "Uh… yeah, sure. I'll see you in class?"

"Yeah," Sasha smiled, waving as Scott left. "See ya!" When he was gone she turned to Derek. "Hey Derek, you don't need to worry about Scott; he's not going to tease you about your stutter." Derek still looked unsure. "Okay, I'll let you in on a little secret. Promise not to tell anyone but… Scott used to stutter _all the time _when he was in fourth grade," she smirked.

Derek shrugged. "Y-Yeah, but he does-doesn't have i-it any-anymore… un-unlike m-me who ha-has it a-all the ti-time."

Sasha pulled him forward into a hug and whispered in his ear. "Cheer up, Derek. If you can do that, I'm sure I can get Mr Stutter to stutter off someplace else for a bit." She smiled when Derek snorted, patting his back. "See? Already halfway there."

"I-I'm sure my stuttering doesn't work like that," he chuckled.

Sasha's eyes widened. "Say, Derek, I think I heard only one stutter there. It's working already!" She giggled.

Derek laughed and shook his head. "I-I don't think so."

"Again!"

"What?"

"Only one stutter," she smiled.

Derek arched an eyebrow. "Why d-do you think it's going away?"

Sasha had no clue but she ended up saying, "Maybe it's true loooooooove!"

Derek had punched her lightly in the arm for that, and Sasha couldn't help but miss the blush covering his cheeks.

* * *

After school Sasha drove Derek back home. He invited her inside this time and she couldn't help but skip a bit in her step as she wandered around the house with him as he gave her a tour.

"U-Up the stairs is m-my room," he smiled. "You want to g-go up?"

Sasha nodded. "Sure," she said.

"Cool." He led her up the stairs, walking down the hall and opening a door to at the end. "T-This is it," he said and waved his hand. "You c-can go in."

"Thank you," Sasha smiled, walking in and looking around. "Wow. So this is pretty… wow," she said, noticing the many picture frames hung up on the walls; they looked like someone very artistic had painted them.

"O-Oh… thanks," Derek blushed. "I l-like to paint so I d-decided to just do s-some homemade p-paintings," he smiled.

Sasha clicked her tongue approvingly, nodding in satisfaction. "These are quite nice; I really like them."

Derek lowered his head that time when he thanked her, hands fitted into his jacket pockets awkwardly. His feet shuffled on the carpet and Sasha caught the blush on his cheeks darkening.

Sasha bit back her squeal from the adorableness.

"I like to draw," she said, filling the silence that had taken over the room. "My mother used to have a drawing pad that she'd draw in from time to time. When I was seven I found her drawing in it, late at night while dad was at work. I was meant to be in bed but I'd snuck out to watch TV, found her sitting on the couch with her pad and a pencil. She didn't yell at me, instead she patted the spot beside her and let me watch her draw. I asked her if she could teach me and she said yes. She taught me all the different techniques she used, patterns that looked nice, textures and shades; basically everything she knew about being an artist. Then when she thought I knew enough, she let me try drawing for myself… and well, I've been drawing ever since."

Derek had looked up while she'd been talking; she hadn't noticed because she'd closed her eyes while telling the tale. Her eyes were wet underneath her closed eyelids and she wanted to cry right then, yet kept her emotions under control.

Her mum had died when she'd been eleven. Car crash, speeding truck driver with a high alcohol reading, enough crack in his system to shut down his entire body from the inside out give or take the accident happening or not. He'd died in the collision too though, so the overdose on drugs didn't really matter much. Sasha had barely made it out alive either; god bless the ambulance getting there quickly.

"Sasha, you o-okay?"

She felt a warm grip on her shoulder, opening her eyes to see Derek's concerned face and his hand on her shoulder. She nodded. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just… just reliving something from the past. It's nothing."

"You s-sure?" Derek asked softly, eyeing her with concern. "Y-You look upset."

Sasha smiled. "Yeah, Derek; I'm okay. Memories sometimes stick around even when you don't want them to, you know?" She sighed.

"Y-Yeah," Derek said. He seemed to be thinking about something, if the look of pensive concentration Sasha saw on his face was anything to go by. "Do you… m-maybe want t-to talk ab-about it?" He asked finally, very cautiously, like he was afraid he'd anger her by even asking.

Sasha usually never told anybody about her past, yet something about Derek and his kind/shy personality, adorable blushes, cute little stutters and dazzling hazel eyes made her give in.

She told him everything.

He'd shared with her one of his stories, too. He'd mentioned that his Uncle and Aunt had died in a plane crash five years ago. The plane had malfunctioned and the pilot hadn't been able to fix it; the plane had crashed into the ocean and everyone on it had died. He'd also said that the stutters had started just a few days later.

She'd hugged him, let him cry and he'd done the same when she'd told her story.

When it was time for her to go she'd kissed him on the cheek softly, thanking him for sharing his story with her, and promised she'd be there tomorrow to pick him up.

He'd blushed and returned the kiss, this one being on her lips, before thanking her for sharing her story and also for the lift tomorrow.

She'd left the Hale house with a finger to her lips and a happy skip in her heartbeat.

Also, she'd noticed something.

For the first time, instead of feeling painful regret about going back on those memories, she had felt calming relief.

* * *

When Sasha went to pick up Derek the next morning, he'd run up to her Jeep with the biggest smile she'd ever seen him show.

"Sasha! Guess what!" He'd cried, hopping into the passenger seat with the vigour of someone _very _used to being awake so early in the morning.

"What? What is it? Has Harris _finally _managed to get fired?" She chuckled, starting the engine and reversing out of Hale property and onto the open road.

Derek shook his head. "Nope, though that would be _awesome_."

Sasha was about to totally agree on that one when…

"I mean, Harris is such a dick and I'm pretty sure _every_one wants him to get his ass kicked out of the education department. Hell, I bet the _teachers _don't even like him."

Sasha nearly crashed the Jeep, turning her head so quick she got whiplash. "Derek… you didn't…"

Derek grinned. "I know," he said happily. "No stutter."

"How?" Sasha had only been able to manage since her brain was practically on mode 'can't-work-because-I'm-dead.'

Derek shrugged. "I don't know. Laura said she thinks it's because of you and how I opened up my feelings to you last night and everything, like I finally had some closure over my Uncle Peter's and Aunt Maurie's death." Sasha arched an articulated eyebrow. "Yeah, I know, I know. My sister can't keep her nose out of anyone's business, not to mention her ears away from anyone's closed bedroom door."

"But is it true? I mean, not the closure but the 'you opening up your feelings' thing?"

Derek shrugged again, though the blush on his cheeks proved something _entirely_ different. "Maybe… probably…"

Sasha giggled. "Well, if it _was_ your feelings, then you'll be glad to know that I feel the exact same feelings towards you… whatever those feelings may be," she said, smirking.

The blush that darkened on Derek's cheeks and his silent answer of looking out of the window shyly had her reeling for the rest of the ride.

To say their future relationship was going to be an adorably shy road of blushing, tender kisses and sweet cute romance, was an understatement.

She just couldn't _wait_ to start packing and begin their travels along that road.

From now, her life was _finally _truly beginning.


End file.
